Okay, this was waaaay more complicated than I expected. Guess I got lucky yesterday. And unfortunately it doesn't give me confidence that the option will always be around, but results below.

As yesterdays 'discovery' used a couple tracks from Explorations In Space And Time in 24/192 FLAC converted in Max to AIFF, I used a Reference Recording HRx disc this time (hint: results similar). And I can see why other are having problems. There is another solution, which was Benchmarks and I'll get to that at the end.

Placed WAV into iTunes and dragged to docked iPad: 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad'

WAV converted to ALAC in iTunes (confirmed in Get Info to be 24/176.4, listed as 4386 kbps): 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad'

WAV converted to AIFF in iTunes (all automatic settings - confirmed in Get Info to be shifted to 16/176.4, listed as 5644 kbps - no 24 bit settings to force): 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad'

Converted ALAC from iTunes opened in Finder, directly dragged back to docked iPad in iTunes: 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad'

WAV converted in Max 0.9.1 to AIFF (linear PCM - confirmed 24-bit with 8467 kbps tested both AIFF and AIF as extension) and dragged from Finder directly to docked iPad in iTunes: Success - I'm trying to do drag'n'drop to the iPad without success, are there any trick? I've just opened Finder, choose a 24/96 folder, and tried to drag it to the docked iPad (under devices), but nothing happened, what am i missing here?(got it! have forgotten to set iTunes to 'manually manage music and videos'!!) Strange thing is, i don't need the cck to playback the songs (using Fostex HP-P1), are they being downsampled in any way? I have no way of confirm, no DAC at the moment)

Max AIFFs added to iTunes and then dragged to iPad: 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad' - Confirmed

WAV converted in Max to ALAC (automatic settings with 4280 kbps file produced) and dragged from Finder directly to docked iPad in iTunes: 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad'

WAV converted in Max to ALAC added to iTunes and then dragged to iPad: 'Was not copied as this file cannot be played on this iPad'

_____________________________

So for locally stored music the key seems to be (at least with OS X) get Max involved, convert to 24-bit AIFF/AIF (to keep tags over WAV), set iTunes to 'manually manage music and videos' and drag files directly to the iPad in iTunes instead of adding to your library first. Or use FLAC Player. I'm more confused now.

That's onboard though. Rereading the Benchmark piece they were all about streaming. Turning on Home Sharing opens up your iTunes library to your iPad and 24-bit files there, such as the ALAC iTunes produced files I was unable to load to the iPad. I can confirm streamed those files output correctly up to 24/94 (maybe more my V-Link is the bottleneck).

Have similarly tested the Squeezepad (with in app streaming) and iPeng HD and unfortunately they seem to downsample everything to 16/44.1 for the iPad, unless I'm missing a setting somewhere on the server.

He is big time confusing frequency vs sample rate - lowering your sample rate does not cut off higher frequencies. You can sample at 4kHz and still capture a 30kHz signal. Just won't be accurate as you're only capturing 1 data point every 7.5 "waves".

There's a reason why it is called sample rate and not filter rate

... So still no confirmed hi-rez output via any iDevice huh?

Trying to dig up a link I read about a year ago pointing the digital-out down-sample culprit out as apple's line output code only being able to support so many "characters" (able to handle up to 24/48) - will post as soon as I find

He is big time confusing frequency vs sample rate - lowering your sample rate does not cut off higher frequencies. You can sample at 4kHz and still capture a 30kHz signal. Just won't be accurate as you're only capturing 1 data point every 7.5 "waves".

There's a reason why it is called sample rate and not filter rate

... So still no confirmed hi-rez output via any iDevice huh?

Trying to dig up a link I read about a year ago pointing the digital-out down-sample culprit out as apple's line output code only being able to support so many "characters" (able to handle up to 24/48) - will post as soon as I find

I'm trying to load 24/96 ALAC files onto my iPad 2 to play via the Camera Connection Kit USB to the Benchmark DAC1-USB. Consistent with the well-documented findings in this thread, while I can import those files to iTunes, I can't sync them via iTunes to my iPad 2. I have two questions:

(1) has anyone figured out any scenario (manual drag and drop or anything else) in which it's possible to get 24/96 ALAC (rather than AIFF) files onto the iPad and playable with the native music player (of course, via the CCK to a capable USB DAC)?

(2) does anyone know how to do the equivalent of manually dragging and dropping 24/96 AIFF (or ALAC!) files to the iPad in Windows 7 rather than on a Mac?

I know that I can use FLAC Player or Golden Ear to manually import and play these files, but I'd like to find a more elegant solution that involves playing via the stock music player on the iPad 2.

I believe only the FLAC player can allow 24/96 on the iPad, so 24/96 aiff won't do you much. You could drag and drop aiff directly from windows into iPad via iTunes.

Quote:

Originally Posted by schaqfu

Very useful thread. Thanks, all.

I'm trying to load 24/96 ALAC files onto my iPad 2 to play via the Camera Connection Kit USB to the Benchmark DAC1-USB. Consistent with the well-documented findings in this thread, while I can import those files to iTunes, I can't sync them via iTunes to my iPad 2. I have two questions:

(1) has anyone figured out any scenario (manual drag and drop or anything else) in which it's possible to get 24/96 ALAC (rather than AIFF) files onto the iPad and playable with the native music player (of course, via the CCK to a capable USB DAC)?

(2) does anyone know how to do the equivalent of manually dragging and dropping 24/96 AIFF (or ALAC!) files to the iPad in Windows 7 rather than on a Mac?

I know that I can use FLAC Player or Golden Ear to manually import and play these files, but I'd like to find a more elegant solution that involves playing via the stock music player on the iPad 2.

As far as I can tell, when I drag and drop a 24/96 file (AIFF or ALAC) from Windows Explorer (in Windows 7) onto the icon for my connected iPad 2 in iTunes, it simply adds that file to my iTunes library and syncs it with the iPad, but the sync fails because it is not supported above 24/48. I'll verify that when I go home tonight. But it sounds like dragging and dropping files--at least AIFF files--in Mac has a different behavior. I'd love to know if anyone has figured out a way in Windows, whether dragging and dropping or otherwise, to get 24/96 ALAC files loaded locally onto their iPads and playable by the stock music app.

iPad with software version 5.0.1 plays up to 384 kHz audio files through the Zodiac DAC. Here's a short demo video.

What software music player was used? How are the hi-res files added to the iPad2?

I know it's possible to get the built-in Music player to accept hi-res files by dragging and dropping (as opposed to synching), but would be interested in exploring other players that possibly make it a bit easier :)

What software music player was used? How are the hi-res files added to the iPad2?

I know it's possible to get the built-in Music player to accept hi-res files by dragging and dropping (as opposed to synching), but would be interested in exploring other players that possibly make it a bit easier :)

We used the built-in Music player and just drag and drop files in the iTunes. Will check if it works with other players and FLAC files as well.

Just got a Nuforce uDac 2 so I could play/stream 24/96 files from my iPad2, feeding it USB from the CCK. Unfortunately, uDac draws too much power so iPad ignores it. Powered hubs are not the right way to go due to compatibility and noise problems. Anyone know of a way to provide power to the uDac from a second source?